Write with Markdown
Markdown is plain text plus a few symbols: # makes a heading, ** makes bold, - makes a list. moss reads standard Markdown (CommonMark and GitHub-flavored), and on top of that supports Obsidian-style wikilinks and embeds, shortcodes, and callouts.
Because it's plain text, you can write in any editor, and your files always stay on your own computer.
Basic syntax
On the left is what you write; on the right is what moss renders:
## A small heading
A plain paragraph, with **bold** or *italic* text.
- A list item
- Another item
> A quote.
[A link](https://example.com)
For a full syntax reference, see the Markdown cheat sheet or Obsidian's basic formatting syntax.
Line breaks and paragraphs
In Markdown, starting a new line renders as just a single space after the previous line. To start a new paragraph, leave a blank line between the two.
When laying out poetry and similar forms, to break to a new line without a blank line between, add two spaces at the end of the previous line.
moss's extensions
Beyond standard Markdown, moss recognizes a few more notations, each with its own page:
- Wikilinks & embeds — link to and embed other pages and media with
[[double brackets]]. - Shortcodes — create multi-column layouts, galleries, large images, and more with
:::fences. - Frontmatter — set title, date, visibility, and other properties in YAML at the top of a file.
What to write with
moss ships with a WYSIWYG Markdown editor — right-click a folder and choose Publish to get started. You can also use any editor you like, such as Obsidian, iA Writer, Typora, or VS Code. moss watches the folder and updates the preview the moment you save.